The Way to Peace and Glory
by Bramblerose4
Summary: Spring is coming and with it, the Saxons armies. What will Merlin's role be in the upcoming battle? Rated T for later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

A Quick Note: Since I live in America, where Merlin hasn't aired yet, I have only been able to see the first seven episodes online, the last one being "The Gates of Avalon" So anything that happens beyond then I have no idea and so this story is most likely AU for that reason. Still, ENJOY!

The Way to Peace and Glory.

* * *

Sometimes Merlin forgot just how big a place the castle of Camelot actually was, it happened mostly whenever he received an urgent summons by Prince Arthur, as he had this morning. He checked all the places Arthur usually frequented; his bedchambers, the Great Hall, and the till yard. Merlin even went so far as to travel all the way to the kitchens, thinking the King-to-Be might be sweet talking one of the maids into giving him an extra helping of whatever sweet she was preparing for dinner. But the prince wasn't there and Merlin was running out of places to search. Up and down stairs, around and through corridors, he was going mad trying to find his charge.

"When I find him I swear…" He murmured angrily to himself as he passed his fellow servant and friend, Gwen.

"Merlin?" She asked in her sweet voice. "Are you all right?"

"No," he answered, distractedly. He paused and smiled at her in apology for his rudeness. "I mean yes, Gwen. I'm all right. Well, I will be, once I find Arthur."

"You might want to check the library," said a voice from behind him. Merlin turned around and saw the King's ward, Morgana, walking towards them. "I remember him mentioning it earlier when we broke our fast this morning."

"The library, there's a library?" Merlin asked, incredulously. "Where can I find it?"

Morgana smiled widely at Merlin's comment. "Yes, there is a library. Just go down this hall and up the stairs to the third floor, it's on the sixth door on the right. There's a large landscape above the entrance, and two suits of old Roman armor stand guard between it."

"Thanks Morgana, you're a life saver." Merlin patted Morgana on her fore arm before dashing off. "See you later Gwen."

Merlin followed Morgana's directions and soon found himself in front of the library. He stepped in and sure enough there sat the future King of England surrounded by towers of books and stacks of parchment.

Arthur was in mid conversation with a courtier that Merlin had seen in the Great Hall a few days ago when the man first arrived at Camelot. He had strolled into the Hall with what Merlin thought was an arrogant cadence; he even kept his body erect when presented to the King. Uther didn't seem to mind the stranger's rudeness. Gaius had leaned over and whispered to Merlin that he would be wise to never get on the bad side of that man. When Merlin asked why, Gaius's brows came together, as they did when he was been extra serious, and said vaguely that there was something about the stranger that rubbed him the wrong way.

Now, Merlin watched the newcomer converse in low tones with Arthur. Even though he was leaning over the desk, as though he thought being here was a waste of his time. Merlin saw many daggers strapped to the man's belt when he gestured to Arthur that Merlin had arrived.

"Where have you been?" Arthur demanded, looking up from his papers.

"Looking for you," Merlin said, coming looking around the room. He saw Arthur frowning at him from his chair and knew he made a mistake. Thinking quickly he inclined his body forward into a bow and said in an official and stoic tone, "I apologize for my tardiness, sire. What is it that you require of me?"

A hint of a smile crossed Arthur's at Merlin's antics. Merlin straightened up and waited for Arthur to respond. After a few moments Arthur stood up and pounded his fist on the table. "Well, that's more like it," he agreed a bit arrogantly, "all docile and obedient, like a proper servant should behave."

Merlin bowed his head and tried not to smile too widely. Let Arthur think he was a docile and obedient servant if it got him out of a punishment for being late.

"Can you read Merlin?" Arthur asked, sitting back down in the great chair.

"_Of course I can read you great big oaf. After all I am not a spoiled prince who spends all day bashing swords against shields."_ Was what sprung to Merlin's head, but what came out was a more polite, "Yes, I can read."

"And how's your handwriting…I mean your penmanship? Is it clear? Can you spell?"

"Well enough." Merlin said stiffly, after a moment he added, "Sire," and bowed again for affect.

"Excellent," The prince clasped his gloved hands together. "I have the perfect assignment for you, Merlin. I want you to note all the meetings that my father wants me to attend at the summit next week."

"Okay," Merlin nodded and put his hands on his waist. When Arthur raised an eyebrow, Merlin placed his arms behind his back and cleared his throat. "I mean, yes, Your Highness."

Merlin looked at the man standing next to Arthur. "Lichen, you remember my servant, Merlin?" The Prince asked not waiting for a response. "Merlin, this is Alec Lichen, he's going to help my father and I start our campaigns against the Saxons in the coming spring."

Lichen was barbarian of a man, grand and wide, with hard piercing eyes and a constant frown on his face. He was not some one Merlin though he would find in a library; he looked at though he'd be more at home on a battlefield bashing people's skulls in with a studded mace.

Arthur gestured to the chair across from him. Merlin thought he was telling him to sit, but when he walked over and looked down on the chair he saw that there was a large red leather bound book sitting there. Arthur made an impatient movement with his hand and Merlin picked up the book with both hands and held it out to Arthur. Lichen took it from Merlin's hand and presented it to Arthur. Merlin frowned but remained silent as Arthur nodded and the book was given back to Merlin. "This is for you; it's to help you keep record of the meetings." Arthur explained as Merlin opened the leather bound book. There were blank pages inside, apart from two lines written in neat, clear handwriting;

Property of Merlin, esquire and loyal subject of His Majesty, King Uther Pendragon and His Royal Highness Arthur Pendragon.

"Thank you, sir."

"Well just don't mess up."

"I won't, sir."

The clink of metal across metal made Merlin jump as Lichen stood to his full height. "If you'll pardon me your Highness," he said in a rough voice. "But I have something urgent to attend to."

"Of course," Arthur nodded his head. "I'll see you in the Great Hall tonight."

"Yes, your Highness."

"Where do you think he's off to?" Merlin asked, once they were alone.

"I don't know. He probably left to trim his beard." Arthur said, returning to his reading.

Merlin chuckled and looked around the room at all the books and tomes and scrolls that filled the shelves of the library. "Are there any books about magic?" he asked nonchalantly. He picked up a book at random so he wouldn't see Arthur's grim expression at the question.

"In this library? Gods, I hope not, if there are they ought to be taken out into the courtyard and burn like the rest of the evil books."

"Sir, do you really think magic is evil?"

The prince placed his ink pen back into its holder and looked at his servant. "Honestly Merlin, I have been close to death four times in the last month and in each of those close calls magic has been at the heart of it. And as I clearly like living, I take threats against my life seriously, therefore yes, I believe magic is evil and should be eradicated from the world, along with anyone who practices it."

Merlin bit his lip as he took in Arthur's answer. He wanted so badly to tell Arthur how magic, his magic, had saved him. So that the prince could have see that magic wasn't all bad, true it had been used against him before, but magic had also been used to save him, in one form or another.

"Don't you agree Merlin?"

"What?" Merlin replied, coming out of his thoughts.

"I said, 'don't you agree?' All those books ought to be destroyed. It would keep the knowledge out of evil hands and eradiate magic from the world."

"Well surely there are good people who practice magic; use it for good to help others."

"Oh really? Name one. Go on, I dare you."

"I don't know." Merlin lied and slammed the book close.

"Right, because there are none, Merlin."

Merlin ran a hand though his hair as an odd sound came from his throat. He slumped into the empty chair next to Arthur and looked around the room again before resting on Arthur, who was watching his servant carefully. "I know that you have a hard time understanding that, you like to see the good in everyone, but you'll learn not everyone is as good you think they are."

Merlin folded his arms across his chest and stared at nothing in particular. He could hear what he believed to be the prince snickering next to him and choose to ignore him.

"Merlin hand me that bunch of papers over there, and be careful, they're very old." Arthur instructed.

"Yes, sir," Merlin stood up and went over to the shelf to get the papers he wanted. Heeding Arthur's words, Merlin carefully pulled the papers from their place in the pile and headed back to the table. Curious, Merlin looked at the top of the parchment and read the title of the great tome out loud as he placed it on the table in front of Arthur. The prince started and looked up at his servant in great surprise.

"What?" Merlin asked, straightening at the Prince's gaze.

"You know how to read Latin?"

"Yes," Merlin answered, grinning widely. "I told you I could read."

"Yes, but Latin? That's not a language that servants use in their daily lives."

"Well, my mother taught me." Merlin shrugged and continued to flip though the books pages.

"Taught by a _woman_?" Arthur asked incredulously.

"Yes," Merlin replied in an uncommonly cold tone. "Mothers do have an annoying habit of being women."

Arthur's inquisitive look fell at the challenge in Merlin's tone. "Peace Merlin," the Prince held a hand up in an apologetic gesture. "I meant no offense to your mother's memory."

Merlin, still feeling a bit upset at Arthur's comment, chose to remain silent, but nodded to acknowledge Arthur's apology. "She still lives." He said eventually.

"I am sorry?" Arthur said distractedly.

"My mother, she's not dead, she still lives."

"Oh," Arthur said, looking up from his reading. "Tell me about her."

"Not much to tell really." Merlin started, but the look that Arthur gave him made him stop. Arthur was staring at him with the most peculiar expression on his face.

"None sense, go on," Arthur's tone reflected a sort of excitement and wonder that Merlin couldn't quite place. This wasn't an order from a master to a servant, but a request from a friend.

"She's a hard old bird," he began, a smile forming automatically on his lips as an image of her came into his mind. He closed his eyes and the image grew clearer. "She was the youngest of four, but all her siblings died after a nasty plague went though our village. But that was before I was born,' Merlin explained. "For as long as I can remember, it's always been just the two of us, my mum and me, and we've always managed.

"She would read me stories every night to help me fall asleep. Sometimes she'd just make them up, off the top of her head. Anyway, she taught me how to write and read English, Latin and some Greek. I suppose she did it to keep me indoors and out of trouble, though trouble has as always had a way of finding me." Merlin finished, opening his eyes again. There was a still silence as the king to be soaked in the young magician's story.

Unable to stand the quiet Merlin said the first thing that entered his mind. "And what about your mother, the Lady Igraine, what was she like?" he asked. "I heard that she was a great beauty. I think I passed her portrait on the way up here."

Arthur's face grew as still as stone as Merlin spoke. "I don't know, perhaps she was," The prince said, irritation slowly creeping into his deep voice. "She died when I was very young."

"Oh, I am sorry," Merlin said, realizing his mistake too late. Arthur dismissed Merlin's concern with an anger wave of his and, as if his words were a fly buzzing too close to his ear. They remained sitting as an uncomfortable silence lasted for a long time. It was when they heard the sound of a church bell ringing in the distance that the silence was broken.

"You'd better tidy up, it's almost time for the midday meal," Arthur said stiffly getting up from his chair. He stretched and without another look at Merlin, Arthur strolled out of the library.

"Oh yes, right," Merlin said to no one, already gathering books and stacks of parchment in his arms as the two friends became master and servant once more.

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Reviews welcomed.


	2. Chapter 2

I can't believe it's taken me so long to update this story! Well, yes, yes I can believe it. Here is the next chapter. Hopefully the next update doesn't take as long or longer to happen. Enjoy!

Two.

Merlin wasn't happy. He had been summoned by Arthur two hours earlier than he normally did. The boy wizard had gotten out of bed and had to dress while he ate half an apple and a slice of hard bread for breakfast.

"What is this? You call this penmanship, Merlin? Chickens scratching in dirt is more legible than your handwriting."

"There's nothing wrong with it!" Merlin demanded, making a face.

"Is it written in some sort of secret code, then?" Arthur asked, turning the book upside down.

"No."

"Then what's this word?"

"Knights."

"And this word?"

"Formation."

"Are you sure?" Arthur asked, holding the book close to his face.

"Yes, I'm sure." Merlin answered. He paced around the prince's chambers as its owner continued to tease the young warlock about his penmanship.

"I don't know how you can tell. Merlin, you are possibly the worst writer in the whole kingdom."

"Hey, it's not my fault if you can't read it."

"Actually, Merlin, it is your fault. I thought you said you could write."

"I can. I do." Merlin insisted. "It's just…" His voice trailed off leaving his reply unfinished.

Arthur sensed the change in Merlin and looked at his servant. "It's just what?" He prompted.

"It's just all this talk of war. I don't like it. It makes me feel…uncomfortable."

"Too bad, I don't pay you to feel, Merlin."

"You don't pay me anything, sire," Merlin shot back.

"Yes I do, of course I do. You're a servant not a slave. I've been giving Gaius your pay."

"What?"

The blond waved off Merlin's outburst. "If there's a problem I suggest you take it up with him. But before you do I want you to rewrite this," Arthur ripped out all the pages Merlin had written.

"Wait, what are you doing?"

"Ah, there you are, a nice clean slate," Arthur proclaimed, handing Merlin back the book. "And make sure that you have it ready by this afternoon."

"Right away, Arthur," Merlin groaned. Taking the torn pages and book Merlin stalked out of the Crown Prince's chambers and crossed the courtyard towards the apartment he shared with the Royal Physician.

00000

The young warlock stormed into the apartment walked passed Gaius and dropped into a chair, dropping the notebook on the table with a loud bang.

Gaius turned from his worktable to his ward. "What are you doing home already?" He asked, looking over the top of his eye glasses at Merlin.

"Arthur wants me to rewrite all my notes from the summit meetings. Apparently my writing is the worst ever. He wants me to have it ready before the next meeting this afternoon." Merlin explained as he searched for something useful to start redrafting his notes. "He has a whole army of Royal Scribes at his beck and call. Why doesn't he use one of them?"

"Has it ever occured to you that Arthur trusts you more than anyone?" Gaius offered, returning to his work.

"No, that can't be right." Merlin promised. "He just wants to torture me."

Gaius sighed and put down the seedling he was studying. "Merlin, the reason Arthur doesn't have one of the scribes do it is because they aren't at his 'beck and call' as you put it, but his father's."

"I don't see the difference."

"This is the first time Uther has entrusted something this important to Arthur. That's a lot of responsibilty. You shouldn't blame the prince for wanting to keep those he trusts close to him while he deals with the other rulers and officers. Most of them have been around since before Arthur was born. They are in a position to forget Arthur is the one in charge, since they see him as a boy trying to fill a grown man's shoes. I know from first hand expeirence that it is hard to see the boy who once sat on my knee as a man in his own right.

"And here I thought he was afraid the Royal Scribes were spies that would just report everything to Uther." Merlin thought out loud.

"Oh, I am sure he is aware of that, too." Gaius admitted with a smile. "Now get on with it, you only have a few hours to rewrite everything."

"Yeah, yeah." Merlin dismissed Gaius's warnings and set to work.

The Court doctor watched as Merlin prepared the ink before speaking. "Despite how you feel about the summit now it is a great honor to be present at all," he reasoned. "One that must be taken seriously and with great humility."

Merlin jumped and grimaced. "Oh really, what's so great about it, eh?" he challenged. "So far I've been stuck listening to a bunch of old men drink and talk about past glories and complain about how things were so much easier when they were younger."

Gaius listened to Merlin's rant quietly, waiting for him to finish before he responded. "I know that it seems tough right now, but I believe that you will learn a great deal and not just about battle and war, but how difficult it is to rule a kingdom. We both know that you have a great destiny ahead of you. You must look at this summit as an opportunity to absorb as much as you can. You never know what may come in handy in the future."

As usual Gaius put things in perspective for Merlin and all the anger left Merlin at the physician's advice. "I won't learn anything if I don't finish this before three." he said with a cheeky grin.

"I won't keep you from it then," Gaius promised, finally returning to his own work.

00000

"What took you so long, Merlin?" Arthur scolded, smacking the back of his servant's head. "The meeting's about to start and there's no way I was going to delay it because a servant couldn't show up on time."

"Sorry, I'm here now, aren't I?" Merlin uttered, rubbing the sore spot on his head.

"For what it's worth," Arthur said, walking towards the large council room. "It's bad enough that I had to dress myself."

"Oh, how sad for you," Merlin mocked timing it so the sound of the guards opening the door would drown out his words. He followed Arthur into the chamber room making sure to keep five steps behind him.

Most of the Consul members were already there, talking amongst themselves as they waited for the meeting to officially begin. The chatter quieted down as Arthur walked the long length of the table and took his usual seat at the end as head of the Consul. Merlin stalked to the scribe's seat in the corner. The chair made an awful grinding noise as Merlin dragged it across the polished stone floor and sat down. Merlin felt eyes on him and turned to see the entire Consul staring at him, Arthur gave him a particularly hard incredulous look in disbelief.

Merlin nodded his head and pressed his lips together. "Sorry, don't mind me," he insisted and sat down. He purposefully ignored the other men as he sat down and opened the massive tome to a fresh page.

The Crown Prince took Merlin's advice and turned away from him. "Right then," Arthur said, clearing his throat loudly.

The meeting started and Merlin dutifully took notes as required and tried not to fall asleep.

It was nearing late afternoon when it looked like progress was being made. The majority of the consul had agreed that something needed to be done about the rise in Saxon attacks long Camelot's borders, but what

"We will meet them here," Lichen stated proudly, stabbing a point on a large cloth map draped over the table. "And here, we will crush them."

The point was out of Merlin's sight, he couldn't see where the giant knight finger lay. Gingerly, he stood to peer over the map, it was on a plain near

"If you want to waste time," Merlin muttered under his breath.

"What, what did you say, boy?" Lichen challenged, rising to his feet.

"N-nothing," Merlin stammered, lifting the book to his face so that it covered his mouth.

"Wait, I want to hear what he has to say." Arthur stated, holding up a hand to stay Lichen's anger.

"What can this boy know? He barely off his mother's breast and he thinks he knows better then I?"

"You are right Lichen, Merlin is no great mind for warfare, but maybe he can provide us with another perspective that we would normally over looked. After all, this boy has saved my life. The least I can do is give him a moment to speak." Arthur said in a hard voice. He stared at Lichen with a challenge in his eyes.

Lichen stood his ground for a moment before exhaling through his nose and returning to his seat. "As you wish m'Lord."

"Continue Merlin," The Prince commanded with a nod his head.

Merlin swallowed nervously and cleared his throat before speaking. "I only meant that waiting for an army to appear is not your best option. It would provide the enemy scouts the time for a head count and troop position. You wouldn't want to give them the advantage, would you? You would only be playing into the hands of the enemy."

"Would you suggest we do, turn tail and run?"

"No," Merlin could feel his face color at the challenge. "I think you should station a fraction of your troops in the field and hide the rest in the forest."

Arthur nodded at his servant's words. "Let the Saxons think our force is smaller than it really is, giving them false hope that they stand a chance. That's really clever, Merlin."

Merlin grinned at the praise. "Thank you M'Lord."

"Yeah?" Lichen grunted. "And which troops do you want to be in this boogie trap of yours?"

"Are you volunteering?" Merlin shot back, his temper rising.

Lichen sputtered. "What did you say to me?" He spun around to face Arthur. "Are you going to let this little piss ant speak to me that way?"

"Merlin, that's enough," Arthur warned. He nodded his head in the general direction of the table. "Why don't we all take a break? There ought to be refreshments in your chambers. We'll meet back here in, say, three hours. Until then, gentlemen, stay in good health."

Merlin waited with a bowed head as Lichen passed him. He heard the man growl under his bread and failed to hide the dry smile the noise caused. The young warlock headed back to his seat and started to gather his things when he heard Arthur clear his throat.

"Merlin," the prince said, stressing out the first half of his name.

"Sire?" Merlin replied innocently.

"Why do I put up with you? You know that I am being judged. Now, I covered for you by listening to what you had to say, but I will not tolerate your disrespect of Lichen or any other member of this consul, do I make myself clear?"

"Perfectly, sire," Merlin nodded his head vigorously and started to leave the room.

"Where do you think you're going?" Arthur asked, crossing his arms.

Merlin paused at the door, his shoulders slumping in resignation. "Um, lunch?" he knew he had gotten off to easily.

"No, you're coming with me," Arthur ordered and walked ahead of Merlin.

"And where are we going?" Merlin asked tentatively. Normally, Arthur would answer this question with a smart remark, but this time he simply said, "The library."


	3. Chapter 3

Author's note: This story takes place in the first season, which means Morgana is nice and hasn't come into her powers. The Arthur-Gwen relationship hasn't started, but Merlin has met Lancelot. I hope that clears up the naivety that some of the characters possess.

**Three**

Merlin couldn't help the small lump of panic that settled in this throat as he followed his prince to the castle library. They had spent so much time together in the last few months that when Merlin wasn't fighting off witches and griffin's and rouge knights bent on killing Arthur and destroying Camelot, he was with Arthur on the training ground or in his chambers. In that time Merlin had come to learn that when Arthur was vague about what he wanted Merlin to do, he usually ended up in the stocks in the center of town or below the castle in his own private cell.

"Look, Arthur, Sire," Merlin pleaded as they bounded down a staircase. "I'm sorry for speaking out of turn. It was wrong of me, but you know how I get when I'm nervous, or when I see something I think is wrong; I just keep talking and talking and talking and…"

"Merlin?"

"Yes, sire?"

"Shut up."

"Right, yes sire." Merlin hurried after Arthur as the prince made his way down the next corridor, his stride confident and purposeful, Merlin forced himself to swallow his fear and study the man before him. Arthur didn't seem like he was upset with him, at least not more than usual. Merlin took that as a good sign and was able to swallow his fear as they neared the small archway that lead into Camelot library.

Arthur made for the table furthest from the door and Merlin felt his apprehension return. Arthur pulled out a chair, making sure to make as little noise as possible, and gestured for Merlin to sit. "Take a seat, Merlin," he instructed.

Merlin did as he was bade and sat down. "Arthur, what's-"

"Merlin, be quiet." Arthur leaned against the tabletop in front of Merlin and crossed his arms. "I know that our familiarity has given you certain _privileges _that we may have gotten used to, but we're aren't in my chambers or in the practice field; we are planning a war. It's a delicate matter that can turn nasty quick."

Merlin nodded in understanding and shifted in his seat. So, Gaius was right, again, the warlock thought unpleasantly. I better not let him know that or I'll never hear the end of it. Merlin focused his attention back to the Crown Prince of Camelot. "What would you have me do?" he asked, being unusually serious. Arthur smirked, noticing the sudden change in his servant.

"I need you by my side," the prince answered.

"Whatever you need, sire."

Arthur's smirk turned into a natural smile and he laughed, seemingly pleased with Merlin. "Good. Now, get up." Merlin scrambled out of the chair without comment. "What I need is something to eat. Some cold cuts and cheese would do."

With that Arthur moved away from the table and sat down on the chair Merlin had occupied. "And Merlin?"

Merlin turned at the sound of his name. "Yes, Arthur?"

"Make sure you get some for yourself."

Merlin stared at him, his opened mouth at the odd request. "Uh, yes, of course, sire. Thank you."

"Don't mistake me Merlin. It's not as if I want to eat with you, I just don't want you anywhere near Lichen right now. I'm sure he has someone lurking in the shadows waiting for you so he can take some revenge for being embarrassed by a servant." Arthur explained.

"Uh, right. I'll be careful."

Arthur nodded in satisfaction, turned away from his servant and reclined his feet up on the table. "Good," he said dismissing Merlin.

* * *

I know that the chapter was super short but it's better than nothing, right?"


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